I notice how you dont mention last season in your last paragraph

Football is becomoing more and more of an outpost with regards to using a league system to decide the champions:



Rugby League

Rugby Union

Limited overs cricket

Basketball

Darts

Formula One

NFL

Basketball

the list goes on



have all moved away from a straight points system.



indeed even the champions league uses a league system to try to ensure that it gets the teamsthat it wants to qualify for the lucrative play off phase.

It's the weekly rounds that are the money spinning initiative.

Head to head playoffs are clearly the obvious and fair way to find which team is best. The drawback being that they don't give a regular set of home fixtures and severely limit the earning potential of the teams eliminated early in the competition.

You'll note that St Helens and Bradford have had a go on both the swings and the roundabouts here.



Any noises coming from there will almost certainly be hypocritical whining.



Wigan have come close to having a crack but obviously need a higher finishing spot to launch from. Leeds fans at this point just luv it but we'll be on the wrong end of it sometime (probably).

The first past the post system can only be put into place if all teams play each other only on a home and away basis, with none of the "extra fixtures"



As an example, last season in the "normal" Supersleague round Wigan played Saints 4 times, Leeds 3 times and Catalan 3 times.



That's almost 40% of their games against the top 3 teams.



If for example last seasons champions had been decided on the top of the league system they should have only been 6 games against those teams.

In other words the TV bosses have there way has it generates more money, as with all play-off competitions..It's all down to money in the coffers...



Will the English Prem ever have a GF....No!

Yet they're one of the the most money orientated businesses going. Was the talk of a "39th game" not suggested for revenue purposes?



Which pretty much suggests you are tying yourself in knots and contradicting yourself

Is the "English Prem" really a good example? How many teams have actually won it over how many years?



They don't have a salary cap in the "English Prem" either? Should we scrap that?

In professional sport you do know what the "professional" bit means don't you?

Problem for the emglish Prem is that they would have to cut the league down to about 15/16 teams in order to fit the play off games in and nobodies prepared to suggest that. There is also the problem that by having a knockout competition at the end there would be potential pitfalls for the big 4 which may mean that they are knocked out by a lesser team and could affecttheir qualification for the Champions League.



The big clubs see the Premier League as a means to qualify for the lucrative Champions League anyway, which to them is the play off system.

Over the last ten years 3, so on a par with SL...



Is the english prem a good example? I'd say so due to the fact that the TV bosses and PL could suggest a GF or a 39th game. Would it happen, no!



My point is we already have a knock-out cup in the CC, if we have the GF, what's the point in the CC anymore?

Does this make the CC more financially important to a club than the GF as it generates more cash for the winning team?

The most lucrative single competition in northern hemisphere rugby league is the World Club Championship. More of the proceeds are retained by the competing clubs than either the Challenge Cup or Grand Final.

Is that measured by income, profit, or split of income from the game, or some combination?